Knoxville #2 Page #2

Most heels that worked the seventies learned these common tactics in working a crowd but what set Ron apart was his ability to set up all this heat before he even entered the ring. He would come out for a TV interview and the boos would start before the cameras would even pick him up. When he finally got to a microphone he immediately engaged the announcers in an argument. After redirecting his thoughts away from the crowd and announcers he began to run down his upcoming opponent in a verbal display that resembled a drunken and angry old man yelling at a dog for turning over his garbage cans. Before concluding the interview he would often threaten that "come Friday Night somebody’s gonna get a Tennessee Dog Whoopin", while all along pausing about every fourth word to gasp for breath before continuing. Les Thatcher described Ron’s mic skills best when he said that Ron’s delivery was like that of a Southern evangelist preacher. Ron drew so much heat in the seventies that he was both stabbed and shot at by wrestling fans. Even with Ron being such a large heel, fans respected him respected him as such, further defining the future Knoxville legend that he'd one day become.

In order to be a hot #1 heel you’ve got to have an equally popular baby face to work with. Ron had plenty but the face that first brightened his own star was fellow East Tennessee legend, the late Whitey Caldwell. Whitey was a beloved local hero with an incredible loyal fan following. Fans loved him so much that they still decorate his grave with flowers even today. Ron and Whitey engaged in vicious bloody battles throughout East Tennessee. From 1960 right up unto the untimely death of Whitey, who was killed in an auto accident in 1972 following the matches in Morristown, you would be hard pressed to find a card on which they didn’t main event.

When Ron Fuller took over Southeastern Championship Wrestling in 1974, he was over as a huge heel, Wright was still going strong and by this time, he was a popular babyface along with his tag team partner and brother Don.  In the fall of '74, the duo found themselves in battles with Jim Kent's Bounty Hunters, Tommy Gilbert and Sputnik Monroe as well as the tag team of Ron and Terry Garvin.  Depending on who they were facing, they may've been a babyface team or a heel team.  As with any strong heel there is always a profitable face turn to be made. In early 1975, the two Ron's found themselves in a feud that lasted for a few months until Wright disappeared in the spring.  

Another incident that distanced Ron from his past heel history was one that involved another top Southeastern heel, Don Carson. Don was another loud mouth that made fans cringe every time he opened his yap. Most fans would remember Don from time spent in the western territories. Don arrived in the Southeast in the last years of his in-ring career. What he lacked in work rate he made up with his infamous gimmick. Actually his gimmick was part of his devastating finisher, the claw which was assisted by the use of a loaded black glove. He referred to his glove as Peanut Butter for reasons known only to him.

Carson and Wright had a heated disagreement on TV and just as Ron was about to walk away, Don sucker punched him at the announcer’s desk. Now I don’t know if it was booked this way on purpose, but what followed came across as a very violent and believable altercation. Ron, after being attacked, fell across the announcer’s table where Les Thatcher had been seated. In the meantime, Don had slipped on his black glove and proceeded to "load" it. Carson then began to punch Wright repeatedly in the face where each punch made a sickening thud due to the fact that the microphone was positioned close by. Whether one of the punches slipped or what, I do not know, but Wright came back later in the show for an interview and his eye was swollen shut. His face appeared on all weekly arena programs for over a month selling this angle.

Wright had a good run as a face but his return to heel was inevitable. His ability to trigger a riot was more valuable in drawing a crowd. In 1978 he hung up his boots in exchange for a managers license. His legendary abilities on the mice helped several wrestlers get over that did not have interview skills of their own.  Wright began managing in the Knoxville area in the fall of 1977, a bit prior to his eventual retirement as wrestler.  Still a popular babyface, Wright angered fans when he turned heel in the fall of 1977, and began to manage the Southeastern tag champs of Don Carson (once a big Wright foe), and the Assassin (either Randy Culley or Roger Smith).  He managed them into 1978 and then took over as manager of the much hated, but very tough tag team of Dennis Condrey and Phil Hickerson.  This duo held the tag belts through most of 1978, and from time to time, Ron would join in on six-man tag bouts.

In early '79, still for Fuller's Southeastern, Ron managed the duo of Jim Dalton & Butch Malone briefly, then disappeared. Ron popped up with "All-Star" wrestling in the spring of '79, Fuller's new Knoxville competition, as a TV announcer. Southeastern wrestlers Ron Garvin, Bob Orton Jr., Boris Malenko, Bob Roop, and a couple of others left Southeastern to start All-Star which also used Randy Savage later merged into the Poffo family's ICW promotion.

Wright later came back fulltime as a great manager with Ron Fuller's Knoxville based USA promotion in the spring and summer of 1988. He managed the Mongolian Stomper, Moondog Spot (Larry Latham), and the masked Stormtrooper (Tim Frye). He had the fans REALLY hating him again, just like the "old days" of the early '70's!

On August 5th 1994 at the Night of Legends show, promoted by Smokey Mountain Wrestling, Ron was inducted into the Knoxville Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is still active today as a voice for the local independent, Tennessee Mountain Wrestling promotion. He will be long remembered as a pillar in the East Tennessee wrestling scene.

NEXT MONTH:

We will take a look at the wrestler/owner of the Southeastern promotion itself, the "Tennessee Stud" Ron Fuller

Back to Knoxville Main